Home, Hope, and Love...
by Sirius Black's Greatest Fan
Summary: Stupid title...anyway, this is basicly about how Harry copes with the previous year, Sirius steps in to help... I betcha there will be a sequel, Harry's 5th year. PG for one swear, may be bumping it up to PG-13 later...R&R please! My second fic! Ch.2 up!
1. Curious

Home, Hope and Love...What Would We Do Without Them? 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All else belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm not making any money off of this, so sue me. 

A/N: I've always been fond of the Sirius/Harry parent/child situation. It just warms my heart... so let's do it! Enjoy! 

*********** Chapter I: Curious... 

Harry sat on one side of his bed, staring blankly out the window. His eyes burned with hot tears threatining to come out. The door clicked behind him and Aunt Petunia walked in. 

"What are you doing, lazing around here all day? I have some work for you in the kitchen!" Aunt Petunia sceeched at him, pointing out the bedroom door. Harry slowly got up and shuffled his way out the door, keeping his head down. 

When Harry arrived in the kitchen, a broom and mop with a bucket of water were waiting for him. Picking up the broom with a sigh, Harry began sweeping the floor. The broom reminded him of Quidditch...which reminded him of Cedric...which reminded him of all that he had tried to forget, and all that he was thinking about back in his room. Not realizing the tears on his face, Harry put the broom back and picked up the mop, dipping it in the bucket before thrusting it on the floor. Hearing footsteps, Harry looked up into the face of Uncle Vernon. 

Uncle Vernon looked back into the tear-streaked face of Harry. "What's wrong with you, boy?" Harry, not realizing what his uncle ment, looked down and kept mopping. Returning his mind to is work, Harry shrugged off what Uncle Vernon had said. He was always pointing out something 'wrong' with Harry. But what came next felt like an electric charge. 

"Just because you helped some 'evil wizard' back to power, and saw one of your freak friends killed, doesn't mean you can-" Uncle Vernon started, but Harry cut him off. "Y-you know what happened last year? How?" Harry was staring at Uncle Vernon, mop lay forgotten on the floor. 

Uncle Vernon said the next words with disgust. "Your crackpot Headmaster came and told me the 'great ordeal' you went through last year. I told him I don't give a damn, and he said I was being an irresponsible guardian. And I said I don't care." He drew a deep breath "And if you think you can get all mushy on us, you've got another thing coming. Now get back to work!" And he walked off, leaving Harry alone with his abandoned mop. 

Harry dropped to his knees. He felt like banging his head against something. Dumbledore, telling the Dursleys what he had been through, as if they could possibly comprehend what this meant, to both the Wizarding and Muggle communities! Shaking his head, Harry brushed away the tears on his face that he had just realized were there. He stood up, and began to mop the floor again, his hands shaking slightly. Now Harry wanted to throw up. Thinking about what happened last year always made Harry slightly sick, and he was always in fear of totally breaking down in front of the Dursleys (or anyone, for that matter). 

Finishing the last of the floor, Harry tip-toed on the the spots he had done first on purpose so they would be dry back to the living room. Deciding that he would be safer from the Dursleys outside, Harry opened the door and proceeded outside, out to the open field behind the house. Settling on a grass hill, Harry sighed and looked calmly up into the vast expanse of the sky. It was so warm and cozy there...Harry couldn't help but feel a little drowzy. His eyes closing slowly, Harry let out a content sigh as he drifted off into a soundless slumber... 

_A skeletaly tall and thin man sat in an armchair, his pale fingers drumming impatiently on the arm rest. "Well, Wormtail? There must be **some** weakness to be found in the boy's defenses." The man's high, cold voice sent a shiver through his servant's body. _

"Y-yes, master. B-but what?You k-know you can't even t-touch the boy where he is now. How can y-you get to him?" The cowardly short, bald man inquired. 

"Never doubt me, Wormtail! **Crucio!**" The man pulled out his wand and cursed Wormtail, sending waves of horible pain through his rigid body. 

Those same horrible waves of pain caused Harry to wake up from his peaceful slumber, clutching the scar that made him special, even for a wizard. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Sirius Black grinned so hard, his face felt like it would split in two the whole way through. He walked out of the Ministry of Magic office, clutching two crisp pieces of parchment in a death grip. Sirius walked straight through the office, the long way, taking as slowly as possible, to the front door. People turned around and looked at him suspiciously, but none shouted "Oh my Lord! It's Black! Arrest him!" as they would have a few days ago. Sirius took pride in each and every step, gloating at all the office workers like he was their superior and they were all stickey stuff at the bottom of his shoe. 

Sirius was about to exit the building, when he spotted a copying machine. Grinning, He paid the woman running the machine 2 Knuts to have his papers copied. After that was done, he pulled out a rumpled piece of parchment from his Muggle coat pocket, smoothed it out as best he could, and wrote: 

_Dear Harry, _

Happy Birthday! Sorry if it's a little late, I was really busy working on a project with the Ministry. I hope you like it, it took a lot of time, but it was worth it. Sorry it's not better then that. As always, be careful, and never stay too far away from the Dursleys, as much as you'd like to. I'll write back more later, I'm a little busy right now. Before you ask, yes, I'm alright. I'll see you soon. 

Love, 

**Sirius**

P.S. - If you'd like to stay, how's August 3rd, around 6? Write back soon. 

Grinning still from ear to ear, Sirius took out another piece of parchment from his coat pocket, and layed it down with all the others. He stacked them so Harry would see the letter first, then broght them back up to the second floor. Arthur Weasley came striding to meet his, carrying a old, gray owl with him. 

"Now, are you sure you want to use Errol? He's not very dependable." Arthur looked a little worried at giving his family owl to Sirius. 

"Yes, I want these" Sirius held up the pieces of parchment, which had now been rolled up neatly "delivered to Harry as fast as possible." And with a sigh, Arthur opened the cage and let Sirius tie the letter and others to Errol. Both men watched as Errol took flight through an open window. Arthur turned and left, but Sirius watched until the owl vanished into the cloudles horizon. And Sirius Black, for the first time in many years, laughed. 

************ 

A/N: What do you think? Sorry it's so short, but I don't have an excuse! I know some of it's a little choppy. I might re-do the first part of Ch.1, but I like the rest, for the most part. I'll start on Ch.2 soon. Constructive criticism is appreciated, flames will be sent to Lord Voldemort. _He knows where you live..._


	2. Guilt, Shock, Joy...All of the Above

Home, Hope, and Love...What Would We Do Without Them? Chapter II: Guilt, Shock, Joy...All of the Above 

Disclaimer is in Chapter 1. 

A/N: Thank you to all those readers who took some of their time to fill in a review! So far everyone likes it, so on with the show!  


***********  


Harry sat alone in his bedroom, staring up at the ceiling. He knew he spent too much time thinking, but what else was he supposed to do at night? _Sleep_, Harry thought, _something I haven't been doing much of._ Turning over, Harry struggled to remember when he had been happy. Finding out he was a wizard...now Harry wished he wasn't who he was. Vague thoughts of suicide crossed his mind, but he erased them quickly, when he thought about what it would do to the few people who cared about him. _The Dursleys would be happy_, Harry thought, but then erased that thought from his mind, as it only made him more unhappy then he already was. 

A heavy flapping and beating of wings, and a thump on the end of his bed, alerted Harry to a new presence in his room. Sliding on his glasses, he got out of bed, and went over to the end of it. There was an unmoving gray owl, with a heavy load of parchment tied to one of it's legs. Harry poked it to make sure it wasn't dead. When it gave a feeble hoot, he hurredly carried it over to Hedwig's cage after untieing a heavy roll of parchment. "Errol? What are you doing here? Ron has Pig!" Errol gave a soft hoot, and raised a leg, almost pointing to the parchment that still lay on Harry's bed. 

Harry strode over to the end of his bed, picked up the roll, and untied the silver ribbon that encircled it. Four pieces of parchment unrolled, the first being a letter..."From Sirius!" 

_Dear Harry, _

Happy Birthday! Sorry if it's a little late, I was really busy working on a project with the Ministry. I hope you like it, it took a lot of time, but it was worth it. Sorry it's not better then that. As always, be careful, and never stay too far away from the Dursleys, as much as you'd like to. I'll write back more later, I'm a little busy right now. Before you ask, yes, I'm alright. I'll see you soon. 

Love, 

**Sirius**

P.S. - If you'd like to stay, how's August 3rd, around 6? Write back soon. 

Harry raised an eyebrow at the last bit, but noetheless put the parchment aside. His birthday had been yesterday. Harry wondered what Sirius could possibly doing with the Ministry. He was still considered a guilty murderer! But the next piece of parchment Harry pulled from the pile made Harry gasp, rub his eyes, ponder if it was a hoax, and read it twice more. 

**To Mr. Sirius Black: **

The Ministry offers it's most sincere apology for the mis-conviction of Mr. Black, without a trail at the least. Mr. Black has been found innocent, and will be recieving payment for the 12 years in Azkaban. Again, the Ministry offers it's most sincere apologies. 

Cordialy, 

And it followed with a list of Ministry officers. 

Words could not express what Harry felt at that moment. All the guilt he had weighing down on him a moment before was lifted, and replacing it was shock, closley followed by sheer joy. The parchment was shaking fiercly in Harry's hands, and tears ran down Harry's face. 

Harry put down the parchment and picked up the next one. What was on it made his eyes widen and his breath shorten. 

_Dear Sirius, _

Seeing as you are now declared a free man, and you have bugged me about it since the date was set up for you to meet with the Ministry, yes, you can have Harry to stay with you if he is to consent. 

Sincerly, **Albus Dumbledore**

Harry put the parchment down, shock taking over his emotions. Picking up the last parchment, Harry smiled. There was nothing else left to do. 

_Mr. Sirius Black: _

Thank you for complying in filling the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We are sure you will educate our students well in the light of Voldemort's rise. 

Sicerely, 

And there was a list of the school ministers and professors. 

Harry placed the last piece of parchment on the rest. Then, remembering what Sirius said about if he'd like to say, Harry wrote shakily on the back, 

_Dear Sirius, _

Of course I'd like to say! August 3rd, around 6? That's fine. 

Love, 

**Harry**

Rolling the parchment up, Harry heafted Errol out of Hedwig's cage, made sure he was alright, then let him go through the open window. Tears ran down Harry's face, and for a change, they were tears of joy.  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Sirius turned over on his bed, groaning. He was alone in his house. It had been a few days since Sirius had been offcialy declared free. Guilt floated around in his mind. _It's my fault Harry's with those awful Muggles_, Sirius thought, _we all knew I would rather die then betray them._ Turning over again, Sirius curled up into his oh-so familiar ball of misery. 

A soft *thump* on Sirius' bed snapped him out of it. "Errol?" He mumbled, sitting up and squinting through the dark. As his eyes adjusted, Sirius practicly ripped off the parchment tied to the owl's leg. Unrolling it, Sirius saw his own letter again. However, when he filpped it over, Sirius saw a shaky, slightly tear-stained reply, saying he would love to say. Sirius couldn't help marvaling at what was happening. In two days he would pick up his godson, and they would live happily. Hopefully. What happened last year at Hogwarts kept popping up in his mind. 

Shooing Errol out the window, Sirius slowly made his way back into his bed. Sighing slowly, Sirius realized he needed Harry's company just as much as Harry needed his.  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: So, what do you think? It's a little short. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated, flames will be sent to Lord Voldemort. _He knows where you live..._


End file.
